N.W.A. and the Posse

N.W.A. and the Posse is the debut compilation album by American hip hop group N.W.A. It was released on November 6, 1987, by Macola Records, the early distributor for N.W.A's label, Ruthless Records.[1][2] In April 1994, or roughly five years after the Straight album's August 1988 release and July 1989 platinum certification of 1 million copies sold, the Posse album was certified gold, half as many.[3]

N.W.A. and the Posse
(L-R) Top: DJ Train (obscured), Sir Jinx; Middle: MC Chip, MC Ren, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, K-Dee, Ice Cube, Arabian Prince, DJ Scratch (obscured); Bottom: Krazy Dee, Candyman.
Compilation album by N.W.A
Released	November 6, 1987 (original) November 13, 1989 (reissue)
Recorded	1986–87
Genre	West Coast hip hop gangsta rap
Length	46:26
Label	Macola (original) Ruthless (reissue) Priority (reissue)
Producer	Andre Young
N.W.A chronology
N.W.A. and the Posse (1987) Straight Outta Compton (1988)
Singles from N.W.A. And The Posse
"Boyz-n-the-Hood" Released: March 3, 1987 "Panic Zone" Released: August 13, 1987

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

But originally not N.W.A's intended album release, it collects early Ruthless releases that Macola—at that time, the Los Angeles rap scene's main record distributor—had recently distributed for Ruthless, mainly N.W.A's EP titled N.W.A.[4][5] Macola omitted "A Bitch Iz a Bitch" to favor party, electro sounds, like the "Panic Zone" track, that led the Los Angeles rap scene until N.W.A's Straight album hit.[6][1][7] Months after that national, rap landmark's arrival, its own distributor, the new Ruthless distributor, Priority Records, reissued Posse with the "Bitch" track.[1]

N.W.A. & EP

The World Class Wreckin' Cru's home base was the Eve After Dark nightclub, just outside of Compton in Los Angeles county.[9] Also performing electro rap, the Wreckin' Cru's core, including Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, led by Grandmaster Lonzo, made the Los Angeles rap scene's first album released under a major record label, by Epic Records under CBS.[9] Otherwise, the Wreckin' Cru was on Lonzo's label Kru-Cut Records, a sublabel of Macola Records, the area's leading distributor of rap records.[9] Meanwhile, Eric Wright formed, in Compton, a new label, Ruthless Records.[6][9] Wright recruited Dr. Dre, already connected to Macola and Audio Achievements recording studio, to produce records, and they recruited Ice Cube, in a local group called C.I.A., to write lyrics.[4][10]

Once the rap group H.B.O., or Home Boys Only, signed by Ruthless from New York City, rejected his Ruthless songcrafting team's song "Boyz-n-the-Hood,"[11] Wright, persuaded by Dre and Yella, rapped it himself, dubbed Eazy-E.[6][4][10] At the single's success, 200,000 copies sold,[4] Eazy formed N.W.A, initially a nebulous group of musical associates.[6][7][12] At N.W.A's core, there were three—in his own words, Eazy the "conceptualizer," Cube the "lyricizer," and Dre the "musicalizer"[12]—supported by producers Yella and Arabian Prince.[12][13] The success of N.W.A's first three releases—"Boyz-n-the-Hood," "Dope Man," and "8 Ball"—prompted Eazy's call for an EP, distributed by Macola.[7] The EP's five songs included Dre and Cube on "A Bitch Iz a Bitch," Eazy on "Fat Girl," and Arabian's production "Panic Zone."[7]

Photo & Posse

For the EP's cover photo, Eazy summoned N.W.A's members, and maybe some of its circle, to pose for the camera in a Hollywood alleyway near Macola's office.[7][13] Reportedly, some who were photographed wound up there by merely driving or accompanying another.[13] And future N.W.A rapper MC Ren, living near Eazy,[5] although photographed, was not yet in N.W.A.[12][13] On the other hand, DJ Yella, although already active within N.W.A,[12] is absent.[14] In any case, soon after the EP, titled N.W.A.—having the third period, which Ruthless would later drop—Ruthless switched distribution to the indie giant Priority Records, based in New York City.[5][15]

Exploiting the moment, Don MacMillan of Macola, reusing the photo, and adding more Ruthless songs, created a compilation album, N.W.A. and the Posse.[4][5] Still, some photographed are not on the LP's songs, whereas those in the added songs are not photographed.[13] In August 1988, N.W.A's new distributor, Priority, released Straight Outta Compton—N.W.A's first intended album release, first authorized debut album[4]—with two tracks remixing ones on Posse, "8 Ball" and "Dopeman." And in 1989, Priority reissued Posse, if replacing the Microphone Mike & Rappinstine track "Scream" in favor, after all, of N.W.A's track "A Bitch Iz a Bitch," featuring Rappinstine.[1]

Track list

No.	Title	Performers	Length
1.	"Boyz-n-the-Hood"	Eazy-E	5:37
2.	"8 Ball"	N.W.A.	4:26
3.	"Dunk the Funk"	Fila Fresh Crew	5:01
4.	"Scream"	M. "Microphone Mike" Troy, Rappinstine	3:18
5.	"Drink It Up"	Fila Fresh Crew	4:45
6.	"Panic Zone"	N.W.A., Krazy Dee	3:33
7.	"L.A. Is the Place"	Eazy-E, Ron-De-Vu	4:31
8.	"Dope Man"	N.W.A., Krazy Dee	6:16
9.	"Tuffest Man Alive"	Fila Fresh Crew	2:16
10.	"Fat Girl"	Eazy-E, Ron-De-Vu	2:45
11.	"3 the Hard Way"	Fila Fresh Crew	4:10
Total length:			46:26

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[16]	Gold	500,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Notes

1. Alex Henderson, "N.W.A: N.W.A and the Posse", AllMusic.com, Netaktion LLC, visited 26 Apr 2020.
2. Robin D. G. Kelley, "Kickin' reality, kickin' ballistics: Gangsta rap and postindustrial Los Angeles", in William Eric Perkins, ed., Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996), p 128.
3. Gold & Platinum search, "N.W.A. & the Posse", Recording Industry Association of America website, visited 26 Apr 2020.
4. David Diallo, "Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg", in Mickey Hess, ed., Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2007), pp 321–322.
5. Ronald "Money B" Brooks, interviewer, Arabian Prince, interviewee, The Goin Way Back Show Stream @ YouTube, 9 Oct 2015, 27:45 mark. With the N.W.A. EP's cover photo displayed, Arabian explains the Posse LP's origin. Soon, his local contemporary, The Unknown DJ, by phone, emphasizes Macola's lead in the early Los Angeles rap scene's record distribution.
6. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, "N.W.A: Biography", AllMusic.com, Netaktion LLC, visited 26 Apr 2020.
7. Gerrick D. Kennedy, Parental Discretion Is Advised: The Rise of N.W.A and the Dawn of Gangsta Rap (New York: Atria Books, 2017), pp 85–86.
8. Vlad Lyubovny, interviewer, "The D.O.C. speaks on "No Vaseline" & his friendship w/ Ice Cube", VladTV–DJVlad @ YouTube, 4 Dec 2015.
9. David Diallo, ch 10 "From electro-rap to G-funk: A social history of rap music in Los Angeles and Compton, California", in Mickey Hess, ed., Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide, Volume 1: East Coast and West Coast (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2010), p 233 on World Class Wreckin' Cru, pp 234–238 on N.W.A.
10. Jerry Heller w/ Gil Reavill, Ruthless: A Memoir (New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2007), pp 67–69.
11. Dre, Yella, Arabian, and Eazy assembled at the Audio Achievements studio, in Torrance, California, to present a rough cut, just the beats by Dre and Yella, and the lyrics in Cube's notebook, to H.B.O. [J Heller w/ Gil Reavill, Ruthless: A Memoir (Simon Spotlight, 2007), p 69].
12. Jerry Heller w/ Gil Reavill, Ruthless: A Memoir (New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2007), p 103.
13. Martin Cizmar, "Whatever happened to N.W.A's posse?", LA Weekly, 6 May 2010.
14. In the photo, the five, eventual N.W.A members are side by side in the center: Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Arabian Prince, and MC Ren. Otherwise, there are seven others. Two of them had already formed, with Ice Cube, the rap trio C.I.A.: Anthony "Sir Jinx" Wheaton and Darryll "Kid Disaster" or "K-Dee" Johnson. Another two were in another rap group, CPO: Clarence "DJ Train" Lars and Granville "MC Chip" Moton. Also, there are LaMont "DJ Scratch" or "King Scratch" Burnett, Candell "Candyman" Manson, and Damon "Krazy D" Trujillo. For backstory and developments on each, see Martin Cizmar, "N.W.A. and the Posse: Where are the 12 guys from N.W.A's first album cover now?", Phoenix New Times, 15 Mar 2010.
15. Priority had distributed Run-DMC, would distribute for Rap-A-Lot Records, which had the gangsta rappers the Geto Boys, and would distribute Ice Cube's solo albums.
16. "American album certifications – N.W.A. & The Posse – N.W.A. and the Posse". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.